Server side api call to self-hosted YOURLS doesnt work

[cnnn666v2]

Did you use the FAQ section?

• Yes, I have read the FAQ and I found no solution/answer there.

Steps to reproduce

1. go to config.php
2. define basepath, urlshortener, apiurl, signature
3. make a new paste and try shortening url
4. it throws "Cannot parse response from URL shortener."

What happens

It throws error "Cannot parse response from URL shortener.". Even though everything is setup correctly

What should happen

It should shorten the url no issue

Additional information

I'm using YOURLS as a self-hosted software for url shortener. I wanna use the option (as provided in the configuration wiki) to make the api call on the server side, so the signature is not visible to the client

Basic information

Server address: https://paste.mandarynki.eu

Server OS: Linux Alpine

Webserver: NGINX

Browser:

PrivateBin version: stable 1.7.5

I can reproduce this issue on https://privatebin.net: No

[rugk]

I guess we need (more details on) the configuration… 🤷

[RedAISkye]

I've had similar issue in the past but got mine working.

What I noticed was that it will throw rate limit error if API signature is not specified in the URL.

Edit: I tried manually by copying the urlshortner link I got from your paste:-
https://paste.mandarynki.eu/?shortenviayourls&link=
And it gave me the error:-
Could not create paste: Error calling YOURLS. Probably a configuration issue, like wrong or missing "apiurl" or "signature".

So, from my experience, it is mandatory to specify it in both URL and API.

Lets assume the following for example, but don't forget to replace the address and signature with actual ones:-

1. Your Paste Address is: https://paste.mandarynki.eu/
2. Your URL shortner address is: https://short.mandarynki.eu/
3. Secret API Signature is found under Secure passwordless API call: https://short.mandarynki.eu/admin/tools.php
4. Your Secret API Signature is: a1b2c3

Try with the following config:-

[main]
basepath = "https://paste.mandarynki.eu/"
urlshortener = "https://short.mandarynki.eu/yourls-api.php?signature=a1b2c3&action=shorturl&format=json&url="

[yourls]
signature = "a1b2c3"
apiurl = "https://short.mandarynki.eu/yourls-api.php"

Note: Unfortunately, this will expose the secret API key to the browser which users can check under Network tab of Developer Tools. But I have not found any other configuration to make it work with YOURLS while hiding the API key from the client at the same time.

The API can only be used for creation of short URLs and does not allow access to the admin interface, so it should be fine I guess?

What this means is users can manually create short URLs for other URLs outside of your pastebin as well by manually entering the urlshortner link and then adding their custom link at the end. Like for example:-
https://short.mandarynki.eu/yourls-api.php?signature=a1b2c3&action=shorturl&format=json&url=example.test.com/this_is_a_long_url/12345
Edit: You seem to have configured whitelisting your paste domain, so users can only shorten long URL that is from your paste domain(This is handled by the paste server by default when urlshortner address is pointed to paste domain):-
Could not create paste: Trying to shorten a URL that isn't pointing at our instance.

I'm not sure how the URL shortner function would work otherwise without providing the API key to the client, since the paste server itself doesn't seem to handle it in the backend. The client requests that in the browser from my understanding, since aside from the Network tab exposing it, I can also see the IP that created the paste's short URL in the admin interface and it's not the IP of the server, it's the client's IP.

[elrido]

[main]
basepath = "https://paste.mandarynki.eu/"
urlshortener = "https://short.mandarynki.eu/yourls-api.php?signature=a1b2c3&action=shorturl&format=json&url="

[yourls]
signature = "a1b2c3"
apiurl = "https://short.mandarynki.eu/yourls-api.php"

Sorry, but that does not sound right - the whole point of the proxy feature is to hide that signature, so the expected config for the above should look like this:

[main]
basepath = "https://paste.mandarynki.eu/"
urlshortener = "https://paste.mandarynki.eu/?shortenviayourls&link="

[yourls]
signature = "a1b2c3"
apiurl = "https://short.mandarynki.eu/yourls-api.php"

[RedAISkye]

[main]
basepath = "https://paste.mandarynki.eu/"
urlshortener = "https://short.mandarynki.eu/yourls-api.php?signature=a1b2c3&action=shorturl&format=json&url="

[yourls]
signature = "a1b2c3"
apiurl = "https://short.mandarynki.eu/yourls-api.php"

Sorry, but that does not sound right - the whole point of the proxy feature is to hide that signature, so the expected config for the above should look like this:

[main]
basepath = "https://paste.mandarynki.eu/"
urlshortener = "https://paste.mandarynki.eu/?shortenviayourls&link="

[yourls]
signature = "a1b2c3"
apiurl = "https://short.mandarynki.eu/yourls-api.php"

Yes, that's what I initially did but with such configuration, I get rate limit error.

Edit: I tested it now and I'm not facing into the error I did in the past, weird.
Maybe switching to a different host fixed it? Going to reset my API key now, good that it's now hidden.

Edit2: Nevermind, different issue now with that configuration, the shortened URL shows as "http://yourls.org/" for some reason and in admin interface, there's nothing generated. Under network I can see it is correct:-
https://smol.tandukarbidhan.com.np/?shortenviayourls&link=[PASTE-URL]

Edit3: Ah, I only updated the parameter and forgot to replace urlshortener sub-domain that was still pointed to the url shortner instead of the paste's address. Now it's working correctly!